Outside Homurahara Academy lay a stretch of woodland. With Susanoo in its initial stage, Sasuke followed the magical energy left behind by the chain dagger and tracked it here.
The woods were utterly silent. Since it was already evening, the branches and leaves of the towering trees obscured the sky, leaving the surroundings especially dim.
But to Sasuke, who possessed the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, that was nothing.
As for the one trying to hide in the shadows and launch a sneak attack, Sasuke mocked him.
"Although I have no idea where you monsters came from..."
"But if you think you can hide from these eyes..."
"you're being far too naive!"
The Sharingan had extraordinary perceptiveness, allowing its wielder to observe the flow of chakra. Now, the only difference was that chakra had been replaced by magical energy!
The figure hiding in the tree had already appeared in Sasuke's sight!
Sasuke didn't hesitate for even a moment. He went straight for a killing blow!
With the sound of tearing bone, Susanoo—which had been no more than a spine and rib cage—began to grow at a frenzied pace!
It first took the shape of a skeleton with an upper body. Then, as magical energy poured out, sinews and flesh covered the bones!
At the same time, a bow and arrow made of magical energy appeared in Susanoo's hands!
Sasuke had Susanoo draw the bow to its full strength. A massive arrow formed from magical energy shot out in an instant!
The entire process took no more than a moment. The air around them trembled as the enormous purple arrow tore through the woods, unstoppable. Anything in its path was ripped apart and destroyed!
Even so, Sasuke's expression remained indifferent.
Just as the arrow was about to hit its target, the figure had vanished from the spot.
Though the target was gone, the arrow could no longer be recalled. It released a tremendous amount of magical energy where the target had been, triggering a devastating explosion!
The earth shook, and the blast sent fallen leaves whirling in every direction!
Sasuke knew his opponent was nothing but a coward who preyed on the weak. He had no desire to waste time chasing him.
Still, Sasuke hoped that the next time they met, the man would be just as lucky to escape.
As the man's magical energy dissipated completely, Sasuke dismissed Susanoo with a look of disgust and turned toward the school, sprinting back!
The Mangekyo in his eyes reverted to the Three Tomoe, then finally to ordinary black eyes.
Back at the school, Rin Tohsaka was still using gemstones to treat Kaoru Sakura.
Unlike before, when Kaoru had been pale and in pain, she now had color in her cheeks and looked calm. It was safe to say she was out of danger.
When Sasuke returned from the woods outside the school and saw this, he let out a small sigh of relief. Then he looked at Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka.
"Thank you."
Rin slowly breathed out after finishing the treatment.
"It's all right. You saved us just now, after all."
"This girl is Kaoru Sakura, right? She may still be a little weak, but she'll be fine after resting at home for a few days."
"Are you a magus?"
Shirou and Rin had both felt the tremors from the explosion just now.
The young man before them was undoubtedly a first-rate magus!
And judging by the attack that had ambushed them earlier, it had definitely come from a Servant.
In other words, this man had not only stopped the Servant's attack but driven the Servant off, all without a scratch.
When Sasuke didn't answer, Rin changed the question.
"Are you a Master?"
Sasuke replied without expression.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Rin frowned slightly and met Sasuke's gaze.
"You have Mystic Eyes, don't you?"
Sasuke didn't know any of the terms Rin was using. He hadn't expected that even in a country that seemed so peaceful, such strange abilities existed.
Besides, if he wanted to find out who had hurt Kaoru, the two people in front of him would make good allies.
"Mystic Eyes? That's close enough to what I'd call them."
"As for the magi and Masters you mentioned, I don't know anything about them."
"But I want to know what you mean—especially what that thing that hurt Kaoru was."
Hearing Sasuke say that, Rin sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Looks like you're even more clueless about this than Emiya."
Shirou, suddenly brought into the conversation, could only let out a confused "Huh?"
Rin smiled faintly at Shirou's reaction, then invited the two of them along.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Rin Tohsaka."
"I was just about to talk to Emiya, and I can explain what happened today while I'm at it."
"If you don't mind, Kaoru can rest at my house for now. I can also help her recover a little more."
"How does that sound?"
Sasuke didn't mind going to Rin's house, but he had to think twice about bringing Kaoru along.
It was obvious that neither of the two before him was ordinary. They were both magi, as Rin called them.
But Kaoru, who had always thought of Sasuke as an older brother, was just an ordinary high school girl.
Sasuke would kill the person who had done this to Kaoru, but he couldn't let her get caught up in the conflict.
Seeing Sasuke hesitate, Shirou held out a hand to express his gratitude.
"Thanks to you, we're safe. I'm Shirou Emiya."
"I hope you'll trust Rin, too."
"She won't let ordinary people get caught up in this fight."
Rin hadn't realized Sasuke was worried about that, so she immediately reassured him.
"Don't worry. One of our rules is that ordinary people must not learn of our existence."
Rin had saved Kaoru's life, after all, so Sasuke had no reason to doubt her. Looking at the two of them, he introduced himself.
"Sasuke Uchiha."
Before you continue